National Comics: Eternity #1 Review

Kid Eternity is back!

In a move that I’m still quite excited about, DC Comics has debuted its new done-and-one series called National Comics, aiming to reintroduce some of the DCU’s more obscure characters month in and month out in a series of one-shots. The debut features a revamped Kid Eternity, written by Jeff Lemire with are by Cully Hamner and Derec Donovan. As a re-introduction (or perhaps just an introduction for some) to the character, Eternity #1 suffices just fine. In fact, the only storytelling detriment I can pinpoint is the fact that the story doesn’t exactly wrap-up in a way that will leave you satisfied. Instead, it ends on a rather heart wrenching cliffhanger that will just leave you waiting for the next issue. That’s not a knock against the book itself, it’s just that, at least at this point, that next issue doesn’t exist.

Lemire presents the narrative in a straightforward fashion, quickly establishing Christopher Freeman’s origin and power set – he died once and now he can resurrect the dead for a limited period of time, which comes in handy in his day job as a coroner, where he uses his abilities to help solve murders. This time out, however, things don’t go exactly to plan and Freeman discovers that there is more to his situation than he suspected. As a stand-alone story, the murder mystery itself is satisfying in its setup and payoff. The ultimate reveal of the nature of the crime is not wholly unexpected, but Lemire’s method of using the plot to build Freeman’s character is what stands out. However, as I mentioned, the progression of the character and the growth of his role in the DCU is so intriguing by the end of this issue that the only let down comes when there’s no guarantee that we’ll see it continued anytime soon.

Hamner and Donovan deliver some satisfying pages here, particularly in the early going. There’s a double-page spread after the very first page turn that is used to showcase nearly all of Freeman’s origin, and the artists take the brunt of the responsibility of playing out the scene. It’s a testament to the creators and the editorial staff assigned to it that there’s no real need to over-explain things here; the visual storytelling and subtext of Lemire’s script is more than enough for the reader to infer the deeper meaning or even the particular details. The visual style of the book is dampened a little bit when the script calls for more talking head scenes, but overall Eternity #1 is a technically sound and visually pleasing book.

The one real technical gripe I should mention is that while the narrative and artwork stand on their own, there are more than a couple of lettering errors – missing letters and such – throughout. It’s not a huge deal and doesn’t hurt the story (and hey, mistakes happen), but it’s worth noting that this is only the latest in a continuing trend of lettering mishaps at DC, including another one this week in Green Lantern #11.

Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on IGN. He will love Star Wars until the end of his days.